Butte County man builds huge yacht at San Rafael's Loch Lomond Marina

A giant yacht that a father and son are building at Loch Lomond Marina in San Rafael has captivated the neighborhood's imagination, with shoppers at nearby Andy's Local Market keeping daily tabs on its progress.

James Lane, 50, and his 26-year-old son, Michael Johnson, began working on the 65- by 32-foot catamaran in June 2010 in Butte County, but moved the partially constructed vessel to Loch Lomond this spring.

"We should put it in the water in about 30 days," Lane said, as he showed off the nine-bedroom, three-bathroom 3,200-square-foot boat on a recent afternoon.

The yacht, which Lane will call the Flying Hawaiian, features fiberglass over wood construction and boasts two kitchens and a gym. It weighs about five tons and has so far required 700 to 800 pounds of screws, Lane said. Sixty-five-foot catamarans typically sell for anywhere from $500,000 to $2 million or more.

"This boat is going to be two times the size of most people's homes," said Lane, a master craftsman who has never built a boat before. "I spent three years on the design of this. I've looked at thousands and thousands of yachts."

Come late October, Lane plans to move aboard the Flying Hawaiian with his mother, Johnson, several other people and one pet Chihuahua and travel to Mexico, Hawaii, the Samoan islands and New Zealand.

He doesn't plan on coming back.

"We're going to island hop until we get bored," Lane said. "We've got plenty of music and plenty of fishing gear and plenty of time."

The group hopes to make money by renting out the yacht or taking tourists out on the water. A small generator will power the boat's "gel cell" batteries each day, he said, adding, "It's about the freedom and the lifestyle — it's fresh food and good living."

Yachts can be quite large — with some measuring 110 feet in length — but locals have been particularly interested in Lane's boat because it's unusual to see such a large vessel being constructed in San Rafael, Loch Lomond Harbor Master Pat Lopez said.

"People are curious, just very curious to see it because it's so unique," Lopez said. "It's something that we don't really see around here too often."

About half the customers at Andy's have been talking about the plus-size vessel, providing daily updates on Lane's progress, said Patrick Crowley, the store's general manager.

"If they don't ask about it, what it is, they talk about the size of it," Crowley said. "It's a conversation piece, and everybody wants to see it get launched because that's awfully big to get moved to the dock.

"These guys, they're just going to go sail around," he added. "It's kind of exciting in a way."

Resident Jim La Fleur, who lives a couple of blocks away, said he and his family were stunned to see the progress Lane and Johnson had made on the boat when they returned from a month-plus trip in August.

"I haven't seen the animals coming two by two, but it won't surprise me," said La Fleur, 44.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing if it works," La Fleur added. "I admire his optimism and his drive to do something like that."

Meanwhile, Lane said he's busy preparing the boat for water and would welcome any spare parts residents want to donate. The Flying Hawaiian won't look quite so enormous once it leaves the marina, he added.

"When you're a little speck out in the water, it doesn't feel that big."